In Which Sylar Steals the Power to be Creepy
by Babblefest
Summary: Sylar steals a power that every great super villain needs.


Disclaimer: Heroes does not belong to me. I can lay claim to a few of the characters in this story though, mostly the ones that you don't normally see in Heroes. Enjoy.

**In Which Sylar Steals the Power to be Really Creepy**

Getting passed the guards was easier than he thought. All it took was a charming smile, a few lies and a few more assurances that yes, he did know that it had been several months since his "brother" had been admitted but circumstances had made it impossible for him to visit earlier. After that a very nice, slightly plump nurse led Sylar down the hall to the visiting rooms, chatting as she went.

"It's so nice for him to have visitors. He's just one of those people that seems to get passed over you know?" The nurse lead Sylar around a corner and down another sterile, white hall. "There haven't been any physical outbursts since he's been here so you'll be able to see him in this room. Is that all right dear?" She stopped and pushed open a door to show a small room. It looked like someone had tried to give it a homey feel before realizing the hopelessness of the venture and giving up halfway through. A small coffee table holding a neat stack of magazines sat in the middle of the room surrounded by several mismatched and used-looking chairs. The nurse smiled encouragingly up at Sylar and he smiled back. This would be just fine.

"Someone will bring him by in a moment then. One of the nurses will stay in the room while you visit in case you need anything."

Sylar blinked and his smile faltered. That wouldn't be fine at all.

He put on a look of concern and stuttered politely "I don't see why I would need anyone, I-I mean he's my brother, I wouldn't think that he-."

"Oh, I know dear." The nurse assured him. "I know it sounds like a bit much, but we have procedures that we need to follow. I'm sure it won't be the case with you, but sometimes these first reunions don't go just as we've planned." She gave him another encouraging smile. Encouragement was not what he needed.

"I just, it seems…" Sylar put on the innocent, pleading face he used to wear so often. "I think it would be better if we…"

"Had a little privacy?" The nurse finished for him. Sylar nodded appreciatively. "Well," the nurse looked unsure for a moment and finally said, "How about this, I'll ask George to stay outside then? Does that sound all right dear?" she looked up at him expectantly.

A small grin spread across Sylar's lips "That would be wonderful, Miss…?"

"Oh, just call me Mary." The nurse tittered and blushed a little. Then she shooed him into the room and bustled off down the hall promising that George would be along with Ernie shortly.

Sylar was left standing in the room in silence except for the soft tick-ticking of the clock on the wall. He smiled up at it as he took a seat in a greenish chair facing the door. Sylar folded his hands in his lap, and waited.

Would this man really be special? Sylar shifted in his seat. He knew that it would be easier to find them once he was able to convince Suresh to help him, but in the meantime he was following the few leads he could get on his own.

He slipped his hand into his coat pocket and fingered the paper inside. He had been searching the news for weeks after Brian Davis, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He pulled out a neatly folded newspaper article and grinned down at the reason why he was there. It was a long shot, but the article had seemed different, special. He gently unfolded the paper, reading the words he had already read so many times:

_Accountant Pleas Insanity in Assault Trial_

_Accountant Ernie Backer, charged last week with assault, pleaded insanity in Monday's trial. Authorities said that Mr. Backer attacked a coworker claiming "He just wanted someone to notice him." According to several sources, this was not the first instance Mr. Backer had such an outburst. Amy Stuple, who works in the cubicle next Backer's, said that "Ernie would just disappear for hours and then he would be behind you yelling." Several other witnesses spoke of similar instances, calling them "creepy." The owner of the company, Mr. Lin…._

Sylar heard a shuffle at the door and looked up. A male nurse standing partway in the room gave him a curt nod and left, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Raising an eyebrow, Sylar glanced around the empty room. He gently folded the paper and returned it to his pocket. What was taking so long? He was growing impatient.

"Doesn't notice. Can't see me." Several magazines shot unnaturally off of the table as Sylar jumped at the voice, scrambling to his feet and spinning around. He saw a man standing, not three feet away, with hunched shoulders and wearing the loose garments that all of the patients wore. Sylar grinned.

"You're Ernie Backer." He said.

Ernie jumped slightly at being addressed, but nodded appreciatively. "That's what I tell them, but they don't notice." He nervously wrung his hands. "I'm here! I tell them…I tell them but they just pass over…pass by…can't even see…" The initial excitement melted into barely audible mumblings seemingly directed at his writhing hands.

"Don't notice?" Sylar said this mostly to himself, peering hungrily at Ernie.

Ernie jumped again, seeming just as startled to be addressed a second time as he was the first. "They don't see unless they're looking. You have to make them see." Ernie relaxed as the conversation continued; his hands stopped twisting together and instead took up absently fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Sylar understood.

"You're special." He said with quiet excitement and took a slow step closer to Ernie.

Ernie looked up for the first time and caught Sylar's eyes. His hands found each other again and he started stammering. "Spec-c-ial? They don't…"

Sylar shot a glance toward the door. It was still closed, and there was no sign of the nurse outside. Perfect. Sylar turned back.

Ernie was gone.

"Interesting." Sylar slowly turned, taking in every inch of the seemingly empty room until he heard a small noise behind him that would have made him jump if he hadn't been listening for it. Instead a confident smile spread across his face and he carefully looked into the corner where Ernie was now standing.

"What a wonderful gift." Sylar told him, advancing a step. Ernie made a failed attempt to back further into the corner shaking his head as he did.

"No." He argued pleadingly. "People don't notice, they don't, not until – not until…"

"Not until it's too late." Sylar finished for him. He raised a hand with single finger pointing at Ernie's head.

Mary shifted several folders in her hands in an attempt not drop any of them as she exited into the noisy bustle outside the hospital. Even though she was leaving through the back exit she could still hear the sounds of cars and people and even a few sirens in the background. But this was the city, and she was used to the noise, so she shifted the folders again and set off across the parking lot. As she walked she wondered how Mr. Backer was getting on with his brother. She really wished that she could have stayed to see him when he came out. What did he say his name was again?

Arriving at her car, Mary awkwardly shifted the folders to her other arm and began searching around in her purse for keys. "Oh, shuzbot!" she muttered when she failed to locate them after some digging. The sirens sounded closer now. She looked up curiously.

There was the man.

"Oh!" she cried, dropping a few papers. "I'm sorry dear, I didn't see you there!" Sylar (her mind belatedly supplied the name) bent down with her to help pick up the papers that had fallen to the ground. "Oh, thank you. Are you done already dear? I was sort of hoping – but it hasn't been that long. Is everything ok with your brother?"

Sylar looked pleased "Everything went fine, Mary." He said. The sirens were very close now.

She looked at him quizzically. "Then why-" she started to ask.

"Just tying up a few loose ends." he told her.

The police arrived five minutes later. Just in time to hear Mary breath one, final word before she died.

"Sylar..."

The End

Note: Thanks to my beta Constant Comment Tea. She rules. A lot.


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